


Father's Day

by specialisthalstead



Series: SWAT!Jay Alternate Universe [12]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Daddy Issues, F/M, Gen, Light Angst, Medical stuff, SWAT!Jay, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24857131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specialisthalstead/pseuds/specialisthalstead
Summary: "What are you doing here?" A raspy voice comes from the next room.Jay sighs. "Will wanted me to check on you.""No need," the voice returns. Hailey's head snaps towards the voice when the older man in the White Sox t-shirt gruffly turns to her. "And who is she?"Rewrite of Chicago Med 2x20 Generation Gap
Relationships: Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Series: SWAT!Jay Alternate Universe [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743577
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on [tumblr](https://bleedinghearthalstead.tumblr.com/post/621654772875968512/).

They walk through the front yard with the white and green picket fence and straight into the white and green house, Jay not even bothering to knock, and wow, if Hailey didn't know that Jay was a White Sox fan before, she'd know it now... or at least know where he got it from. She looks around the place and there's memorabilia everywhere – a White Sox wall clock, a White Sox jersey framed on the wall, baseball caps, bobble heads, there's actually a game on the TV...

"What are you doing here?" A raspy voice comes from the next room.

Jay sighs. "Will wanted me to check on you."

"No need," the voice returns. Hailey's head snaps towards the voice when the older man in the White Sox t-shirt gruffly turns to her. "And who is she?"

"Pop." Jay takes her hand and pulls her to his side to where he's standing in front of his father who is sitting in a recliner. "This is Hailey," he pauses and clears his throat while she squeezes his hand, "my fiancée."

Patrick Halstead laughs. Hailey doesn't know what kind of reaction she expected, not that she thought that she'd receive a warm welcome, but it still kind of hurts, and if not for her sake, then for Jay's. They've shared some of their experiences growing up and she knows that Jay and his father don't have much of a relationship – Jay has barely spoken to him since he joined the Army and even less after his mother died, just as she doesn't have any contact with her father except for when her mother isn't fast enough to be the first to pick up the phone. But how the man in front of her can manage to look down at them from his position sitting down is still unbelievable to her. It all feels oddly familiar though. She glances at Jay out of the corner of her eye and she can see the muscle in his jaw twitching and the corners of his mouth pulling down into a frown.

"Yeah, my fiancée," Jay huffs. "What's so funny about that?"

The older man wheezes while he is still laughing. "Didn't think you'd ever have the balls to-" When Pat spots the diamond ring on Hailey's left hand, he loses his train of thought.

Hailey notices him staring at her hand and instinctively crosses her arms, hiding the ring from view, although she doesn't really know why she does it. Well no, she does know why. She immediately knew that he recognized the ring, hell, he must have been the one to buy it and he'd seen it on another woman's hand for over twenty years, but while Hailey is still getting used to wearing the ring, she is already extremely possessive of it. It's hers, a symbol of Jay's love.

Pat frowns at the couple, unsure of himself all of a sudden. He hasn't seen that ring in years, over a decade really, and it's bringing back all kinds of feelings that he definitely doesn't want to deal with. He settles on disdain and turns back to his son. "Again, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Again," Jay parrots and pointedly stares at Pat. "Will wanted me to check on you. He said you didn't sound so good when you talked on the phone."

Hailey and Jay had been in the middle of the maze that is an IKEA store looking for a new coffee table when Jay's phone had started buzzing insistently. He'd declined his brother's calls twice before he picked up on the third time. They'd had a ten minute discussion about whether Jay really (really?) needed to go over to their Dad's house while Jay was lounging on one of the display beds until he'd reluctantly agreed.

And Jay has to hold back rolling his eyes because Will was right. He takes a closer look at his father – he is pale except for his red cheeks, there's a sheen of sweat on his skin and he's breathing heavily, gasping almost, although he is reclined in his chair and was probably doing nothing except for sitting there and watching TV.

"As I said to your brother," Pat rasps, "I don't need this, I'm fine."

His son scoffs. "Are you kidding me? You can barely talk!" Pat only grunts at him and Jay sighs. "Come on, we're taking you to Med."

"Like hell you will, it's just a waste of a trip," the older man grumps.

"Dad, come on. Let Will have a look at you."

"What, so I can take medical advice from someone who wet the bed until he was nine?" Hailey's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and Jay groans at the jab at his older brother who isn't even there.

"Stop being so stubborn, you old pri-"

"Mr. Halstead," Hailey interjects before Jay can finish his sentence with an insult, "you're obviously having a lot of trouble breathing, why don't you let us take you to the hospital?"

The older man glares at Hailey. "And now I have to listen to some ditzy blonde-"

"Hey!" Jay snaps at his father.

"Mr. Halstead," Hailey tries again, this time more firmly, "either you let us take you or I might have to call in an emergency and have an ambulance roll up." She takes out her police radio and stares him down, fiddling with the dial. "I think I heard cries for help coming from this house."

Pat stares back at the defiant young woman next to his son, waiting on her to call her bluff. One of her hands is propped up on her hip and she's added a raised eyebrow into the mix. When she doesn't budge at his glare, he huffs, "I'll be damned if I'll have neighbors see me hauled out of here in an ambulance." He pushes himself up from his seat with shaky arms and grunts with the effort. "If we're going, I'm driving."

Jay's snort is cut short when he sees his father sway as soon as he is upright. "Woah, Pop!" He grabs his father by the arm, holding him steady.

Pat groans, but tries to push his son's hand away. "I got it!"

"I'll call the ambulance." Hailey takes the man's other arm.

"No!" The older man says with more force than expected, especially given his condition, and shakes both of them off. "Just move your asses."

Pat walks or rather staggers out on his own, with Jay hovering next to him the entire way to the jeep. He helps his father into the front passenger seat and Hailey slides into the back. When Jay starts the car, he looks at his fiancée through the rearview mirror. "Can you text Will, tell him we're gonna be there in twenty?" She nods at him and starts typing a message on her phone.

* * * * *

Jay drives right up to the emergency department entrance and they are greeted by Will, a nurse and a wheelchair. Of course Pat refuses to sit in the damn thing, so both brothers guide the older man to the nearest open exam room, their father grumbling at them to leave him alone. Since Will isn't allowed to treat the elder Halstead, he's also called in Dr. Rhodes who immediately starts calling out treatments and diagnostic tools as soon as they have Pat on the exam bed.

Will turns to his brother and future sister-in-law who have stopped at the exam room door, pats Jay on the back and smiles at Hailey. "Thanks for bringing him in."

"Yeah, no problem." Jay frowns, watching their father being hooked up to oxygen and various monitors, being reminded of another time he was unable to help one of his parents. "Is he gonna be okay?"

Will checks on what is happening in the exam room. "Apical holosystolic murmur and his lungs are wet."

Jay rolls his eyes at his brother. "In English?"

"It means that his heart has been compensating for his faulty mitral valve for a very long time and now it can't keep up, so fluid is backing up into his lungs." Will grimaces. "It looks like he's having a NSTEMI – it's a type of heart attack."

When the team of doctors and nurses pushes Pat's gurney out of the room, Jay's frown deepens and he scratches the back of his head, a telltale sign that he is getting upset. Hailey takes his hand in hers and rubs his arm with her other hand.

Will starts following the gurney, but stops and turns back to his brother. "Don't worry, we can beat this. Dad needs an angiogram, I'll let you know when he's done." He gives Jay a quick one-armed hug and jogs after their father who is being wheeled towards the elevators at the end of the hallway.

Jay keeps staring after his brother until Hailey squeezes his hand. "Come on, let's go park the car somewhere it's not gonna be in the way of an actual ambulance and then we'll be right back, okay?" She gives him a soft smile and rubs his arm again. Jay just nods at her and lets her lead him back to the jeep.

* * * * *

After the non-surgical treatment failed and Pat was quickly rushed to the operating room, Will left Jay and Hailey in the waiting area and went to observe their father's surgery, but when he comes back, Hailey is waiting by herself, reading a magazine that's probably been there for a few months at least.

As soon as she sees Will, she gets up and walks up to him. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, the surgery went well." He lets out a relieved breath that he didn't realize he was holding. "They fixed the mitral valve – shouldn't give him any more problems. He's still in recovery, but they'll get him to a room soon."

"That's great." Hailey gives him a hug. She pulls back and notices Will looking around the room. "Jay was called in. He said he'd be back as soon as possible, but it may take a while, you know how it goes. I can text him if you want?"

"Thanks, yeah, that'd be good."

When she sees that Will is still fidgeting, Hailey puts a hand on his arm. "You okay? When was the last time you ate something? Do you want me to get you something?"

"I'm fine," Will says, but he's still looking antsy. "I should probably head back to the house and get some of my Dad's things… but it can probably wait till Jay gets back. I don't want to leave my Dad by himself."

"I can stay with him," Hailey blurts out, but as soon as she says it, she internally panics, thinking she's overstepped. Although she and Jay are engaged now and she feels like Will and her get along pretty well, she's only met their father a few hours ago and that meeting couldn't be called friendly by a stretch.

"You sure?" Will looks hopeful though, so her decision has already been made for her.

"Yeah, I can sit with him till you get back." She raises a questioning eyebrow at Will. "He'll be out of it for while, right? From the surgery?"

Sensing Hailey's hesitation, Will chuckles and gives her an out. "You really don't have to stay, it's fine." But in that moment, his stomach growls and he gives Hailey a sheepish smile. She only gives him a pointed look. "If you're really sure… I'll be quick, I promise. I'll tell the nurses to let you know what room he's in."

She shoos him away. "Go. I know how to deal with difficult fathers." Will has half a mind to ask her what she meant by that, but figures this is neither the time nor place.

* * * * *

Hailey is reading a text from Will that he's on his way back when a hoarse voice startles her.

"How long have you two been engaged?" Hailey raises an eyebrow at the question. She feels like it deserves a sarcastic answer given his earlier reaction to the couple, but the man in the hospital bed beside her has been through major surgery so she decides to give him some leeway. Before she can answer though, Pat coughs and grunts in pain.

"Do you need me to call a nurse? Are you in pain?" She is looking around for the call button, but the elder Halstead stops her with an annoyed wave of his hand.

"No, I'm fine." And if there's one thing she's learned from meeting their father, Hailey now knows that the one personality trait commonly shared between all Halstead men is that they are stubborn as hell. Pat slowly reaches for the cup of water that's been conveniently (thankfully) left on the bedside table by the nurse that showed her to the room earlier. She helps him with the straw and takes the cup from him after he takes a couple of sips, but stops fussing as soon as Pat has settled back against the pillows. "Where are my boys?"

The way he says it, soft and somewhat disappointed that neither Will nor Jay is here, Hailey isn't sure if he meant to say it out loud like that. "Will's on his way back from the house and Jay's been called into work." She checks her phone to see if she's gotten a message from Jay in the meantime, but he still hasn't replied to her text that his father's surgery went well, but then she also knows that Jay doesn't keep his phone on him when he's out on a call.

Pat grunts in response, then motions at Hailey. "Hand me the remote, will ya?" She does and he starts zapping through the channels. "I missed the game for this."

Hailey rolls her eyes when he waves the remote at her not to block his view, but also turns to the TV and settles back in her chair, although it's almost impossible to get comfortable on the hard plastic. She watches as Pat changes channels every few seconds, going through all the channels twice before sighing and putting on an old White Sox game. She can live with that.

They watch the game in somewhat of a comfortable silence until Pat speaks up again. "So?" When the young woman frowns at him, he huffs. "You didn't answer my question."

"We only got engaged last month." Hailey can't help but blush thinking back to the day at the range and the surprise that awaited her. There's a feeling of butterflies in her stomach every time she thinks about Jay and her getting married soon and she couldn't be happier. Still, she feels like she needs to elaborate. "But we've been together for over two years now."

"So no shotgun wedding?"

Hailey laughs. "No, definitely not."

"He treat you well? That boy can be trouble, always has been."

"Trouble?" Hailey feels sudden anger flare up inside of her at the uncalled-for dig at her fiancé and any compassion she felt for the older man evaporates within seconds. "Jay served – is still serving – his country and just because he didn't do what you wanted him to do, he's trouble?"

"Don't be disappointed when he leaves you," Pat mutters, averting his eyes.

Hailey lets out a humorless laugh. "Oh I've heard all about your son being a disappointment to you. And Will too. You do realize that both of your sons have done everything they can to help you today? If it weren't for them, you might as well be dead." The blonde knows that she's being very harsh, but maybe that is what's needed to drive the point home for once. Having said her piece, she turns back to the TV and dreads having to spend another minute with the older man, but she told Will that she'd stay with him and she's not going back on her word.

"You're right," Pat says after a couple of minutes where the sound coming from the TV was the only thing that made the silence between them even remotely bearable. "They made something of their lives. They're better men than I am."

"I don't think they feel that way," she sasses, but pauses at Pat's defeated look. "But I also don't think they'd want you to feel that way either."

Will chooses that moment to appear at the door, slightly out of breath and carrying a luggage bag. "Hey guys." He looks between the two of them, dimly aware of the tension in the room. "How are you feeling, Pop?"

Pat sighs. "Like I took one on the chin."

"You kind of did." His son smirks at him.

"I'm gonna head home, leave you guys to it." Hailey stands up from her seat, her mission accomplished with Will's return. "Keep me updated, Will, yeah? Bye, Mr. Halstead."

Before she can step away from the bed, he stops her with a hand on hers and gives her a small smile. "Call me Pat."


End file.
